Rental property search remained strong throughout many parts of Scotland pushing the National average higher in Q4 2020. However the fall out from the large volume of holiday lets onto some parts of the Edinburgh residential market began to exert predictable drag on the capital sending rents materially down for the city as a whole for the first time in over ten years.
Whilst coronavirus restrictions tightened throughout the quarter as evidence of a second wave began to build, the property market was however kept fully open allowing tenants opportunity to change their environment to suit their needs and adapt to new home and working requirements.
Many students took up their accommodation with optimism at the start of the academic year however HMOs came under pressure as the number of empty student properties rose as the promise blended learning ebbed away towards year end.
“During previous times of social uncertainty (ie financial crash of 2008), I witnessed that the flexible nature of the PRS appealed to a wider selection of people. This has been the case again, with those who are not prepared (or perhaps not in a position to) to commit to buying a property looking to rent instead. We have experienced first-hand increased demand for larger family homes. It’s not all good news for landlords however, as we have also witnessed a decline in demand for student HMO’s. This has been due to a huge reduction of international students, home studies and others seeking just sole occupancy or sharing with one other.”
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